2006 Code of Virginia § 33.1-18 - Location of routes

33.1-18. Location of routes.

The Commonwealth Transportation Board shall not locate and establish anyroute under subdivision (1) of 33.1-12 until: the Department ofTransportation has (i) published in a newspaper published or having a generalcirculation in the county, city, or town in which the route is to be locatedand established a notice of its willingness to hold a public hearing on thematter, (ii) notified the governing body of the county, city, or town inwhich the route is to be located of its willingness to hold a public hearingon the matter, and (iii) held a public hearing, if one has been requested.

If a public hearing is requested, written notice of the time and place of thehearing shall be given, not less than thirty days prior to the hearing, tothe governing body of the county, city, or town in which the route is to belocated and established. Not less than thirty days prior to the hearing, anotice of the time and place of the hearing shall also be published by theDepartment of Transportation at least once in a newspaper published or havinga general circulation in the county, city, or town in which the route is tobe located and established.

All public hearings on the location or possible location of a route shall beopen forums that afford citizens opportunities to obtain route locationinformation and other pertinent information on a proposed project, and tosubmit their hearing comments in writing or to present them directly to averbatim recorder. In addition, upon the written request of a member of thegoverning body of the county, city, or town in which the route is proposed tobe located, or upon the written request of twenty-five citizens, these publichearings shall afford citizens an opportunity to present their comments torepresentatives of the Department of Transportation directly, one speaker ata time, in a public forum following a traditional hearing format. A writtenrequest for a traditional hearing must be received within fourteen daysfollowing the first published notice of the hearing or willingness to hold ahearing.

Following the public hearing, if one is held as provided in this section, theDepartment of Transportation shall notify the local governing body of theaffected county, city, or town of the Commonwealth Transportation Board'sdecision regarding the location and establishment of the route.

(Code 1950, 33-17; 1970, c. 322; 1992, c. 44; 2000, c. 489.)